Engraving illusion

[mtgraver]

Hello friends
Thought I'd share a necklace pendent that I finished in silver and cow horn. I've put up two pictures at varying angles to show the illusion effect of the letter under the cow horn crystal, one reflective and the other refractive I guess one could say. In certain light and angle the letter will almost disappear under the horn. I think it gives the piece a bit of mystery along with an old look. Overall length is about 2 1/2" to give some size for you.
Enjoy,
Mark

 

[BES]

Hi Mark!
Cool!
I liked Very much, as done by Capital Letter ''W''.
How did You manage to achieve such an Effect on the cow's Horn?
Mark, Share the secret of refraction?

 

[thughes]

Mak, vey very ool. It looks 100 years old.

 

[Willem Parel]

I love it!!! and again, your style is unique.

 

[mrthe]

very very nice!

 

[g.rohrbaugh]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful piece.
Gary

 

[dimovengraving]

Very beautiful and magnetic piece Mark!
And very interesting optical effect of the cow horn.

 

[mtgraver]

Eric
I don't know if I can explain refraction correctly but my thought is that by threading the letter (multiple lines to make the main stem of the letter) will reflect better in one direction than another thus the refraction would be the other direction of light. The horn is thin but not clear so it will allow diffused light to enter and escape differently than glass or clear plastic. I think the lack of a lot of light entering the polished surface is what will contribute to the illusion effect. A bright cut letter will give similar effect but probably a little brighter than the threaded letter. All I can say is that the effect turns out pretty cool. Hope that helps a little.
Thanks everyone for your kindness.
Mark

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Looks nice Mark, I too like the way you did the chain eyelet.

arnaud